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Shir Khan - Khan't Touch This

Author: Tom Spooner

Sunday, 25 November 2007

The German tigerof electro, Shir Khan, is coming to Sydney to rip shit out of your shoes. Club 77ain’t seen nuffin’ yet. 3D’s Tom Spooner talked Baile Funk, Techno and DIY withthe Berlin banger.You mix with tunes from many different genres –what makes a track stand out for you-The merging ofmany genres in one track so that you think there’s, like, two tracks at once.Sometimes I think it can be a bit overloaded, but in a good way, and it can bequite funny to have clashing styles put together. Today it’s quite normal. Thissound that people call nu-rave, I don’t like this term, but it describes thismash-up that I’ve been doing for years…it’s not so minimal, I like my sound tobe maximal.Do you approach remix projects in a different wayto your DJ mixes-Similar to myDJ sets, it’s just, like, about taking genres out and, like, choosing onetypical bass sound from one genre and taking typical cymbal from an early ’90stechno song, take a bass drum from a kinda rock LCD Soundsystem-influencedtrack, some percussion from a Baile funk track – mix those elements alltogether and it’s like, wow – a rush through music history.You’ve remixed Bonde do Role. What do you likeabout the Baile funk movement-I like the kindof cheesiness of it, because the tracks all sound like they were made in a fewminutes. This kind of DIY punk attitude to the track, just play around with ita bit, I like it. Baile funk combines punk, electro, disco, pop. I just likethis funny humour; I wouldn’t like to hear it all evening but some of thosetracks are quite cool.Has it been difficult for you to push your eclecticsound in Berlinwhen minimalist techno dominated-Honestly, Idon’t find it difficult. I think I invented something here in Berlin. It’s quite popular now – you have allthese Ed Banger parties here. It’s pretty trendy at the moment and gettingbigger; I think I did something for that… Now I’m too old; there’s a newgeneration coming with the tunes, I think that’s quite good for Berlin right now.Why do you think the electro and nu rave scenes arecurrently so popular-It is importantto break out of some monotone structure in music/club culture. People want some fun. Sometimes, it is quitepopular to play some cheesy tunes. It’s just about having fun. I think it ismost important to show people that there is a large spectrum of music, peoplereally like that, to have many styles at one party and just freak out.WHO: Shir KhanWHAT: Plays Starfuckers at Club 77WHEN: Saturday 1 DecemberMORE: myspace.com/starfuckers77